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Affordplan raises Rs20 crore from Prime Venture, Kalaari Capital
Affordplan will use the new funds to expand its team and enter new cities
Affordplan, a New Delhi-based start-up run by Usekiwi Infolabs Pvt. Ltd, said on Tuesday that it had raised Rs20 crore in a Series A round from venture capital firms Prime Venture Partners and Kalaari Capital.
The start-up was a part of Kalaari Capital’s incubator KStart, and had earlier raised Rs3 crore from it. Affordplan will use the new funds to expand its team and enter new cities.
Affordplan lets patients who have to plan for medical procedures or diagnostic tests save up in monthly instalments, and offers discounts on tests, consultation charges and medicines as incentives for it.
Affordplan said it can be used for non-emergency procedures which can be planned for in advance such as pregnancy, eye care, dental, plastic surgeries and orthopaedic procedures, among others.
If a patient has to undergo a dental surgery that costs about Rs30,000 and can plan for it five months in advance, when they go to a hospital, they are referred to Affordplan. Affordplan then looks at the patient’s finances and medical needs in consultation with the hospital and offers a monthly savings plan so that they can save up for the surgery. The patients can save about 15-20% on the entire process through the discounts the plan offers them.
The start-up said its target customers are people who earn between Rs2 lakh and Rs10 lakh per annum.
The founders, who previously worked at ride-hailing firm Taxiforsure, said that they were seeing “strong adoption” but declined to say how many customers they have or the number of hospitals they have on board their platform.
Affordplan makes money by charging hospitals a variable fee based on the procedures patients opt for, and said it works with small to mid-sized hospitals.
“We are not creating a new behaviour, we are reinforcing underlying behaviour of how people are saving and offering incentives to do so with us,” said Tejbir Singh, chief executive officer, Affordplan.
Patients can opt out of the program any time they choose, and their money, which is parked with the hospitals, would be returned to them within a day.
“Because income and savings can be irregular and uncertain, what Affordplan is doing is balancing that out and making it more predictable and at the same time providing more savings to the customers,” said Shripati Acharya, managing partner, Prime Venture Partners.
So far this year, Indian fintech start-ups have raised $357 million across 39 transactions, according to a report from CB Insights and KPMG. Fintech deal volume, though, fell 40% to nine deals in the third quarter this year, from the same period a year ago.
Despite the decline, the report said that fintech remains a key area for investors who are looking for high-quality deals.
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First Published:30 Nov 2016, 12:24 AM IST
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